Any one know the best way to strip a mini??

Hints or tips?

Or do i just get stuck in

Cheers Drew

Total strip?

Leave the engine on the subframe and lift the body off it. Undo the bolts holding the steering rack to the body first though (4 of them accessed from inside the car).

Otherwise, much the same as any other car really.

Yes total strip

order a skip.....

I chopped my old mini shell up with an axe.... brillint stress relief and scary how easy it fell apart.

best way is to simply unbolt subframes, and lift body off. (strip out interior/glass first). then do what you want iwth the shell, and the mechanicals are in fairly small chunks to rebuild/destroy at will.

Don't forget to disconnect things like electrics, hydraulics etc before you lift the bodyshell off though.

Cheers
Andy

then drive it in.....

Righttttttt - so this will be the next project starting then

Z-Cars conversion ?

At least you'll have a bike engined car you can take out on a damp day
Admit it - you were just sooooo jealous of my luxurious hard top

Get a big hacksaw and cold chisel to cut bits of body work away to make access easier around the engine, but leaving the engine on the subframe save a lot of the struggling to get at fiddly bits. Dismantle it later - the only problem is keeping it upright but a couple of axle stands will do the job.

For the back end, jack it up high enough to put car ramps or something similar under the rear of the sills and you should be able to drop the rear subframe pretty easily, then dismantle that when it is accessible.

Nice one colin LOL


John It might be an mk enginering one im not to sure yet. need to talk to martin

Andy im hoping to keep the bodywork on ,as its just had some new panels put on .

If you don,t want to save the shell,roll it on its side and unbolt everything you need ie rear subframe exhaust and loosen the front subframe mounts while they are easy to get to, disconnect brake pipes, hand brake etc, roll it back on its front wheels and completely disconnect the front subframe and fuel and electrics then lift body up at the front and drag the front subframe out completely.Dont forget to remove the battery and empty the fueltank first before you turn it over.I,ve stripped a mini with a mate in two hours this way before and it worked for me.
If you want to keep the body just put an old mattrss down and you shouldn,t do any damage.
By the way its a good idea to wedge a scaffold pole or 4x2 to stop the body from rolling back while your working on it.

[Edited on 15/4/05 by ray.h.]

[Edited on 15/4/05 by ray.h.]

how far are you going with replacing steel with grp?

i have 4 years of mini mags if you like?

also this was mine, its now sprinting around scotland!!

[Edited on 15/4/05 by macspeedy]
Rescued attachment File0001.jpg

started with 1 piece bonnet but moved to 2 , doors are avialable 2

[Edited on 15/4/05 by macspeedy]
Rescued attachment mini2.jpg

Leave it overnight in Moss side


HTH


Cheers


G

just grab it by the hem and yank it down before she notices

I would add some piccies of my mini here but i cant find them.. Think my missus has hidden them from me cos she didnt like them

If for some reason you want to remove engine first from rest of car, take 2 dead spark plugs, remove ceramic and weld eyes on end of plugs. screw into block (in place of plugs 1 and 4) and use to hoist engine by.

This way it lifts the engine at the correct angle to come straight out.

Big Andy - thats weird!

Me and some buddies at uni stripped our grasstracking minis using an axe too!

Amazing how easy it was! We were in the process of "downsizing" the uni motorsport society at the time funding a giant pi$$ up at le mans - ah those were the days...

So thats 2 votes for the axe...must mean you gotta do it!

An Axe

Nowt wrong with axes. Precision tools in the right hands (not mine of course!)

I Was watching a chap build a wooden enclosure for a chiller unit that is going to be installed at work the other day. He used nothing but a Hatchet (small axe) and a hammer, and a pile of wood planks/beams. a day later there was a custom made wooden enclosure, that looked pretty damn smart.

Andy